Aware Now
by keep-me-posted
Summary: When Buzz volunteers to help get out a stain on Jessie's shirt collar, she finds herself kissing him, releasing three years worth of feelings she didn't even realize she had. TS OneShot.


**A/N**: Okay, so I know I have a lot of stories like this, but I love thinking up different ideas/reasons as to why it took Buzz and Jessie so long to get together. This is another one of my theories. I actually have about three other stories really similar to this one, but this is the one I decided to work harder on, so it won.

The story was intended to be a lot funnier, but it was hard to fit it into the plot without it seeming a little forced. Also, I apologize in advance for the ending. I just can't seem to find the right words for it. Also, sorry for the lame [possibly misleading] summary. I was at a loss for words! Thanks so much for reading.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Toy Story or any of its characters.

* * *

Millions of thoughts circled around Jessie's head as she ran in any other direction that wasn't behind her. _How could something so right feel so wrong? _She thought, as the other side of her brain thought at precisely the same time, _And how could something so wrong feel so..right?_

Suddenly, Jessie found herself in Andy's room, silently thanking her legs for being on the ball today, since her mind clearly was not. She spotted Woody near the center of the room. She assumed he was busy, since he had his trusty clipboard in his right hand, but Jessie was certain that what she had going on was much more important than another staff meeting.

"Oh, Woody!" She cried as soon as she was within earshot. She wrapped her arms around him. "I can't believe it! How could I be so stupid?"

Woody thought the worst. He mentally cursed and slapped [since his arms were immobile at the moment] himself for letting Jessie wander off alone. Last time that happened, Mrs. Davis ended up with two newborn Andy photos instead of one...as the cowgirl had broke the single frame in two.

"Okay, what did you break and where?" Woody asked, heading for Andy's toy broom and dustpan, since those were small and slightly easier to maneuver than one's their actual size.

"I have no idea why I did it!" Jessie continued, unaware that the cowboy doll had said anything.

Woody stopped short, confused at the cowgirl's choice of words. He suddenly took notice of Jessie's state and realized that whatever just happened definitely wasn't something that could be put back together with super glue or duct tape. "What happened?"

"I kissed Buzz!" She exclaimed, as she finally pulled away from Woody.

His eyes went wide. "What? Where?"

"In the kitchen!"

Technically, he had been aiming for where she had kissed him, but he supposed that didn't make much of a difference with Buzz. Woody could only imagine how the space ranger was taking this right now..

* * *

"_She kissed me! She kissed me!" Buzz would say, a goofy grin plastered on his face, while he lazily floated around, two inches off the ground, before fainting right in front of a couple of the toys._

"_I think he's sick," Hamm would suggest._

"_Buzz," Mr. Potatohead would call, though the space toy was clearly right in front of him. "You didn't mix different types of batteries in your compartment again, did you?"_

* * *

When Woody returned from his thought bubble, Jessie's fingers were busy getting knotted up in her braid.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, Jess," He said, putting his hands up in front of him. "What happened _after_ you kissed Buzz?"

Jessie bit her lip. "I ran."

Woody groaned mentally slapping himself again. No..physically this time. He sighed, keeping Jessie's hands at her side. "Okay, Jessie, maybe it's best if you start from the beginning."

She looked uncertain, gazing around the room to make sure they were alone. "Okay. So, as you know, I went to the kitchen to wipe that stain off my collar..."

* * *

**About 15 minutes ago..**

"Ugh," Jessie groaned, taking a small piece of paper towel and scrubbing furiously at her shirt's collar. "You know I love you, Andy," She mumbled to herself. "But these ink spots are getting ridiculous."

Ever since his mom had bought him an ultimate art kit last week, Andy had been drawing, sketching, and tracing all of his toys. And for some reason, he always managed to mark her up in some way. She still didn't know why he had used a green marker to trace her.

After a few more strains and a few more grumbles...the stain stubbornly refused to budge. Jessie tossed the now broken paper towel into the sink and flopped down on the counter-top she had climbed on to.

Below, Buzz must have heard the commotion and made his way up to the cowgirl. "Hey, Jessie. Is everything okay?"

It had been over three years since Andy first adopted Jessie and Bullseye, and while Buzz was still terribly nervous around the cowgirl doll, he had managed to speak complete sentences around her a little after the second year.

She looked up at him. "It won't come out."

Buzz already knew to what she was referring. Jessie had been complaining about the stain since yesterday and hadn't had a chance to do anything about it till today, while Andy was off at school. He could only imagine how bad it would have been if Andy had accidentally marked up her hat instead.

"Well, here," He said, hopping to a cupboard and pulling out a wet nap. "Let me try."

Jessie wanted to say no. She had already been at it for almost an hour now, though you wouldn't know that, as the stain remained there evermore. But if someone wanted to help her, then who was she to refuse ithelp?

"Okay," She said, standing up and making her way towards the space ranger, since his knees seemed to suddenly lock in place at her agreement.

"Buzz?" She said, after standing in front of him for several moments.

He shook his head, regaining his thoughts and nodded at her. "Yes. Yes, I'm here."

She grinned, despite herself, gesturing at the stain.

"Oh, right," He muttered, attempting to open the small wet nap package with his clunky fingers.

"Here, let me help," She offered, trying to rip a corner, while it shook in his hands.

"N-no, I've got it," He tried, the package bursting open. Fumbling at incredible speed, though, Buzz managed to grab the wet nap before it hit the counter or floor.

Jessie laughed.

"All right," Buzz said, mostly to himself. "Now, let's see what we have here."

"It's no use," Jessie found herself saying at the same time she showed him the stain on her collar, just below her neck. "It won't come out. Andy must have been using a permanent marker or something."

"No, it's washable," He assured her, his sentences coming out smoother as he focused all of his attention instead on the stain in front of him. "Trust me, no mom would ever give their child something permanent."

Jessie intended to retort, but she had to admit that did make sense. She kept her head up as Buzz started to scrub at the marking. Every once in a while, she would look down to see how he was doing, but she noted that that just made him lose his concentration. After all, who _can_ work with somebody breathing down their neck?

"It's a pretty outfit," Buzz remarked, after a minute or so. Jessie wondered if he was making conversation to buy himself more time with the stubborn stain.

Jessie nodded lightly, to keep their heads from colliding. "I don't think the designer was thinking when he made it white, though." It certainly wasn't a good color for kids to be around.

"No, it has to be white," He said, gently scrubbing now, so his voice could be heard. "Any other color would clash with the yellow cuffs."

Jessie wanted to laugh at Buzz's fashionable vocabulary, but advised against it, since he was technically giving her a compliment.

"Plus," He went on, though he probably should have stopped. "Any other color wouldn't highlight your pale features so..perfectly."

Jessie's eyes widened, looking down at the space ranger.

He cleared his throat, realizing he said too much and went right back to the mark, finally showing some progress after several minutes of scrubbing.

There was silence between the two of them for a while, except for the obvious noises of napkin against fabric.

Jessie bit her lip as she went from looking outside the window, to watching Buzz work. She wanted to thank him, even if he couldn't get the stain out. She suddenly wished her arms had room to tug at her braid.

She cleared her throat. When Buzz made no notion of the noise, she cleared it louder. He looked up, but his hand kept moving, and suddenly, with him not paying attention to what he was doing, he dropped the slowly-growing-dry wet nap on the counter top.

Both toys quickly bent down to pick it up. When their hands touched, each of their fingers brushing lightly against the others, Jessie swiftly pulled back and stood up again, ignoring the faint head rush it gave her.

Buzz was still for a moment, but quickly shook off the moment and went right back to his previous job.

"Listen, Buzz," Jessie started up again, twiddling her fingers at her far side, so as not to disturb Buzz. "I just wanted to say.." She trailed off, curious at her sudden loss for words, as it certainly wasn't like her.

"Yes?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

Minutes passed, or maybe it was only seconds, when Buzz looked up and smiled, his lips moving as if they were talking.

Jessie found herself smiling along with him, though due to her current state, she hadn't actually heard what he said. She still wasn't sure what possessed her to do what she did then, but the second Buzz lifted his head up a second time - probably to tell her it was indeed no use and the stain wasn't coming out anytime soon - Jessie kissed him. It was quick, short, and left her feeling stupid, but she couldn't take it back.

And then she ran.

* * *

Woody whistled, crossing his legs and leaning back on the block he was now sitting on.

"I know," Jessie said, dropping her head.

"So, you kissed Buzz," He said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah."

He paused. "I don't get it."

Jessie looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. "What's not to get?"

"I mean," Woody continued. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is I _kissed_ **_Buzz_**!" She hissed under her breath, pointing her finger in the direction of the kitchen.

"So?"

"So..." Jessie paused, thinking. "I don't want him getting the wrong idea."

"Which is..?"

Jessie huffed, obviously annoyed by Woody's interrogation. "That I-I-"

"You like him, don't you?" He asked, interrupting her.

"Of course I like Buzz,"She admitted, exasperated. "He's one of my best friends."

"So, that's it," Woody asked. "You've never..felt anything towards Buzz that wasn't..more than a friend?"

Jessie's face burned as she considered the question.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying himself, but Woody wasn't intending to be so nosy with Jessie or make her uncomfortable. It was just that this was the big break Buzz had been waiting for since the moment he met Jessie. Woody knew he'd regret it if he didn't say anything now.

"Buzz and I are just friends," Jessie managed to mumble out after a few moments.

He knew how stubborn the cowgirl could be, so he knew he wouldn't get her to admit anything in terms of words. But actions were another story. The cowboy shrugged nonchalantly, putting his idea into effect. "So tell him that."

The cotton in Jessie's stomach expanded at the thought of facing Buzz after what she'd just done. Her nervousness towards Buzz turned to anger towards Woody.

"Maybe I will!" She exclaimed, shooting up quickly and exiting the room.

For a moment Woody looked nervous, but he got over it quickly, settling back on his block. After all, someone needed to talk to Buzz about what happened and it sure wasn't going to be him.

* * *

Jessie thankfully found Buzz away from the spot she had left him. He was in the family room, watching Rex and Hamm playing some zombie game she had never heard of.

"Hey, Buzz," Jessie spoke quietly, touching his shoulder.

He turned around. He was smiling, but he was still hesitant, staying where he was. "Yes, Jessie?"

"I..." She grabbed her braid and started talking to the floor. "I wanted to apologize for before. I don't know what came over me."

There was silence and when Jessie finally found the courage to look up, she was met with Buzz's curious stare. "What do you mean?"

She sighed, releasing the grip on her hair. "Buzz..." She started, when she noticed the two toys had purposely paused their game to listen to the conversation going on beside them.

Jessie bit her lip and grabbed Buzz's hand, retreating to a private corner of the hallway. After a moment, Jessie realized she and Buzz were still holding hands and she quickly pulled away.

"Buzz, I-" She stopped short, glancing at her collar. "Hey, you got the stain out!" She said, surprised she hadn't noticed that till now. Wow, she really was out of it today.

"Yeah, I was just about to tell you that, before..." Buzz trailed off, trying to hide the blush that rose to his cheeks.

"Right," She said, remembering why she was there and what she wanted to say. "Look, Buzz," She started up again, forcing her hands to stay at her side, and her eyes to remain on him. "You know I like you."

"You do?"

"As a friend," She said in a rush. "You're my best friend, you know that." She paused, biting her lip again. "And..I know you like me."

"As a friend?" Buzz offered.

"No," She shook her head, her eyes fixated on them. "As..more than a friend."

The space ranger looked pained. He stared at the floor. "Who told you?"

"I think I've always kinda known," She admitted.

Buzz grimaced at her words. Jessie felt guilty, wondering why she ever began this conversation in the first place.

"I always tried to ignore it, pretending there wasn't anything there."

"_Is_ there something there?" Buzz looked up, curiously.

She paused. "I think there might be," She answered, honestly. For a moment, the space toy looked hopeful. "But I don't want there to be."

He cleared his throat. "Can I ask..why?"

"I like the way things are," She stated firmly. "I don't want anything to change."

Buzz didn't bother to hide his disappointment then.

"I mean," Jessie sighed. "It's better that way, right? Safe, comfortable. Aren't you comfortable with the way things are?"

_No,_ he thought. But he kept his thoughts to himself. He didn't fully understand why, but for some reason staying 'just friends' - staying in the same place they've been for the last three years - seemed very important to Jessie. And if it was important to her, then it was important to him. "Yes."

The cowgirl's face broke out in a small smile and she let forth a quiet sigh of relief. "So, is it okay if we just pretend this whole thing..never happened?" She chuckled lightly, in hopes of brightening the mood.

"Of course."

Jessie's smile grew wider, and despite their last note on the matter, she leaned forward and, ever so lightly, brushed her lips against Buzz's cheek. Then she wrapped him in a quick hug. "Thanks, Buzz. For everything."

As the cowgirl ran off, the space toy stood there, both in utter bliss and slight confusion, as he rubbed at the kiss that still lingered on his cheek. But as soon as Buzz saw Jessie give him one final wave before disappearing behind another corner of the house, it suddenly struck him what that simple kiss had meant.

It was hope. Hope that maybe someday they'd be brave enough and that 'something there' might actually turn into something more. And with that thought in mind, Buzz was certain he felt much more comfortable with the way things were now than ever before.


End file.
